IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2015 - 25

interview

Archbishop
Lazar Puhalo

A Conversation with
Lazar Puhalo

n December 17,
2014, T&S Editor-inChief Katina Michael
interviewed Archbishop of Ottawa
(Ret.) Lazar Puhalo, of the Orthodox
Church in America. Their discussion
focused broadly on transhumanism.
Puhalo is a Fellow of the Chester
Ronning Center of the University of
Alberta, Canada. His formal studies include physics and neurobiology. Puhalo has traveled widely in
the Middle East as a member of the
Conversations with Islam project,
lecturing in Syria and Turkey. His
lecture series in Romania spanned
six years, focusing primarily on
social issues, and included participation in Templeton conferences on
science and religion. He began work
with the ecology movement in 1963
and continues to write and lecture
on the dangers to our biosphere.
Founder and abbot of All Saints
Monastery near Vancouver, B.C.,
Canada, Puhalo is a retired hierarch
of the Orthodox Church in America.
Puhalo was a speaker at the Global
Future 2045 International Congress
events in 2012 and 2013.

Lazar Puhalo: That is what we
and losing our ability to look up
discuss at futurist conferences. But
and outside and to see the bigger
it is really difficult to say because so
picture of what all this distraction
much of the technology we have conmeans. Can you tell me what you
sists of spin-offs, usually from the
think about new innovations like
military/ industrial complex. A lot of
body wearable devices?
the technology has been and is being
LP: You know cameras are so
developed in secret. I think in 30
miniscule now. We have things
years, we will have got used to almost
such as small ballpoint pens that
continuous surveillance, even on
can actually record videos. Our
public thoroughfares, and that to me
freedoms and our privacy are being
is really one of the most ominous aspects of the element
of technology. We will accept
it because of fear, and fear
Fear is the strongest
is the strongest conditioner.
In many cases, technology is
conditioner.
developing in relationship to
a war on terrorism, both real
and imagined, and the fear
of terrorism conditions us to accept
impinged upon by other individuthe surveillance of people in all cirals, not only by government officumstances. I think probably we will
cials and police, and people you do
have a lot less personal freedom and
not recognize. What we will have
there will be technologies that will
to get used to is the loss of privahelp to distract us from having these
cy and the loss of private space.
personal freedoms.
In a way this helps to cripple us
because privacy itself and private
KM: We are being distracted by
space are something that are so
the frequency of instant messages
valuable to us and integral to our

Katina Michael: Archbishop
Puhalo, thank you for speaking with
us today.
Can you paint a picture for us
regarding the impact of advanced
technologies in 30 years?
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2015.2473995
Date of publication: 16 September 2015

september 2015

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